I paid $800 for my 8 plus. If I get 3 years out of it, that will mean it costs me less than $1 a day. Doing the upgrade program would be around $500 per year(with taxes) and no phone to sell when you upgrade.I think people find it easier to justify a purchase with a payment plan, or if the monthly payment is “not much more” than what they are currently paying.
For example....say you’re paying $35/month for a phone. You’re pretty happy with it even when the next model comes out. But the next model is “only” $5 more a month, so you upgrade. Forgetting that had you held onto your current phone, it would be paid off and you’d have NO payment.
The phone payment has become a permanent fixture in some people’s budgets. I don’t really care how someone chooses to spend their money, and I know plenty of people will upgrade every 1-2 years anyway whether they pay up front or not. But holding onto a perfectly capable phone for longer than 2 years would be much more common without payment plans.
$799 + taxes = $850. Sell for $300 in 3yr
- $550 over 3 years
IUP every year = ~$500 a year x 3 years = $1500. No phone to sell to cut the costs
So if I keep my 8 plus for 3 years, I’ll effectively save $1k. I can then use that $1k to pay cash for my iPhone purchase in 2020.